Garden dirt might make you smarter. Research by the American Society for Microbiology indicates that exposure to Microbacterium vacae is believed to increase learning behavior by stimulating the neurons in the brain. Luckily this bacterium occurs naturally in garden soil.

I should eat it by the spoonful, but maybe Ill wait for conclusive research. Two great ways to come in close proximity to garden soil are the June projects of weeding and thinning the vegetable garden.

Weeding

Garden weeding involves two operations. Cleaning between rows is the easy part, once rows are visible. A hoe, small rototiller, or wheeled cultivator will work. The challenging part is weeding within the row.

Rows of potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli and cabbage are easily hoed, because the plants are spaced within the row. But weeding carrots, beets, lettuce, beans and radishes requires patience.

I become a garden crawler on hands and knees. My favorite tools are fingers and a table knife. Dont tell Mary, but sometimes I borrow one from the kitchen drawer. A knife slices just below the soil surface with precision, letting you weed closely to the vegetables without injuring them.

Weeding is as addictive as eating popcorn if the weeds are tackled when tiny. Total despair is defined as a garden in which the weeds are six inches high and the vegetables are in there somewhere, maybe.

Thinning

Carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach, beets, and similar small-seeded types often need thinning out. Larger seeds like corn, beans, peas and squash can be spaced evenly at planting, and thinning is often not required.

Thinning is necessary because the vegetables mentioned emerge thickly. Imagine a dozen carrots trying to become edible size in a space one inch wide.

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Grab your favorite gardening gloves, get smarter while weeding